Tiltable panel assembly



Feb. 5, 1952 J VAN FOWLER 2,584,173

TILTABLE PANEL ASSEMBLY Filed Dec. 2, 1947 2 SHEETSSHEET 1 INVENTOR Jess Van Fowler ATTORNEY Feb. 5, 1952 J. VAN FOWLER 'IJ ILTABLE PANEL ASSEMBLY 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 Filed Dec. 2, 1947 INVENTOR. Jess VanFow/er Fig. 9

Attorney Patented F ch. 5, 1952 Jess Van Fowler, San Diego, Calif.

Application December 2, 1947,.Serial No. 789,259

3 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3; 1883, as.

amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This-invention relates. toa tiltable" panel as.- sembly such as may be conveniently used on the front of a drawer.

For many purposes it is desirable to have the front panel of a drawer or similar container so mounted to the drawer that it may be tilted away to more conveniently expose the contents thereof. At the same time, the panel should be so secured to the drawer that the tilting actiondoes not take place accidentally during the ordinary reciprocatory opening and-shutting of the drawer. An example of anenvironment in which such a panel is useful is aradio chassis comprises of a number of drawer-like bases slidable inandout of a frame. Circuit requirements generally limit the distance which the drawer may be pulled out, and in some cases this distance is so small that it isdiflicult to obtain sufiioient access to the interior of thechassis to effect necessary repairs.

It is an object of this invention to provide means for mounting a front panel on a drawer orsimilar object so that it may be tilted with respect to the drawer to increase accessibility.

It is another object of this invention to so mount a drawer panel that the drawer may he slid out in conventional fashion and yet the panel may, by simple manipulation, be tilted away from the drawer to give access to the contents thereof.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become readily apparent in the en.- suing description, the. panel assem 1y of the instant invention. consists of a drawer or similar container. To the front panel of the drawer are transversely secured a pair of side walls which embrace the drawer. Combined hinge andlock ing means are provided in the form of simple recess and pin connections between the panel side walls and the walls of the drawer. Essentially there are two such connections on each side of the drawer. The first connection is disposed closest to the panel and serves, after unlocking manipulations have been effected, as a hinge about which the panel may be tilted away from the drawer. The second connection is so designed that its recess portion communicates with the bottom edge of the wall in which. it is formed, so. that-the. corresponding pin may be separated entirely from the recess, allowing the rear portion of the side wall to be pivoted upwardly away from the drawer as the panel is tilted outwardly.

Specific embodiments of the instant invention will now he described withreierence to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are views of the embodiment of Fig. 1 showing the steps followed in tilting the panel;

Fig. 5 shows a modification to the assembly of Fig. l which permits the panel to be entirely removed'from the drawer;

Fig. 6 shows a modification in which the-position of the pins and slots has been reversed;

Fig. '7 shows a modification wherein. the operating recess in which the connecting pin rides is formed merely by embossing one of the plates rather than by slotting the plate clear through;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section-taken along line S 8 in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a further modification illustrating another'manner of locating the pin and recess connections.

Referring to Fig. 1, H designates a drawerlike object such as the base of a radio chassis. The drawer II has a pair of vertical side walls l2. In front of the drawer i i is disposed a front panel. l3 having secured transversely at each end thereof apair of panel side walls l4' whichembrace the drawer H face to face with the drawer walls l2.

In accordance with the instant invention, pinand-recess connections are formed between each wall l2 and the panel wall Hlfacing it. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 the recesses are formed in the panel Walls l4, and they consistoi slots l5 and. I6 spaced at diiierent distances from the panel (3. Each of the slots l5 and I6 is elongate in character and consists of a horizontal portion, ll and I8, respectively, and of a vertical portion, 2| and 22, respetcively. Vertical portion 2! extends upwardly from horizontalportion l'l, while vertical portion 22 extends. downwardly from horizontal portion l8 and communicates with the bottom edge of the plate 14 in which it is formed. Extending outwardly from the drawer side wall l2 into the slots I5: and I5 are connecting pins 23 and 24, respectively, which serve to. secure the panel assembly l3 -|4 to. the drawer H.

Operation Operation of the invention thus far described will now be explained with reference to Figs. 1-4. Conventional sliding of the drawer H in and out by means of the handle 25, is made possible by thev abutting of pin 23 against the edge of" the vertical slot portion 2i. This prevents relative horizontal movement between'the panel l3 and the drawer II. Accidental tilting of the panel l3 about the connecting pin 23 is prevented 3 by abutment of pin 24 against the edges of the horizontal slot portion l8.

Should the operator, after extending the drawer to its limit, desire further access to the drawer through outward tilting of the panel l3, he goes through the steps illustrated in Figs. 2-4. As shown in Fig. 2, panel [3 is first lifted slightly, being pivoted about pin 24 until pin 23 is in line with horizontal slot portion 11. Both pins then reside in their respective horizontal slot portions. Panel 13 is then pulled outwardly with respect to drawer ll, until the pins reside in the extreme rear portions of their respective horizontal slots as shown in Fig. 3. This brings pin 24 into line with vertical slot portion 22, so that panel l3 may be readily tilted downward and outward employing pin 23 as a pivot. Since vertical slot portion 22 communicates with the bottom edge of the panel wall 14, pin 24 is enabled to leave the slot I6 entirely, as shown in Fig. 4.

Modifications Should it be desirable to provide complete separation of panel l3 from drawer II, a second vertical slot portion 3! (Fig. may be appended to the rear end of slot 15, also communicating with the bottom edge of the plate M. In this way pin 23 may he slipped completely free of slot I 5, thereby permitting full removal of the panel l3 from the drawer l I.

It will be understood that the positions of the slots and pins may be interchanged, with the pins 23 and 24 (Fig. 6) being secured to and extending inwardly from the panel walls I4. In this case appropriate rearrangement of the slots l5 and [6, now formed in the side walls 14', is necessary, as shown in Fig. 6.

It will be further understood that it is not necessary for the recess portions of the connections to extend completely through the respective walls in which they are formed. That is, they need not be formed as slots, but if desired, may be embossed into the walls as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, wherein the double priming of numerals denotes parts corresponding to those of Fig. 1, with the L-shaped recesses 15 and I6" taking the place of the L-shaped slots l5 and Hi.

The principles of this invention may also be applied when it is desired to tilt the panel upwardly instead of downwardly. One rearrangement of slots and pins to accomplish this result is shown in Fig. 9. As mentioned hereinbefore, it will be understood that the relative mounting of pins and recesses between the facing walls may be interchanged; and it will be further understood that embossed or similarly formed recesses may be substituted for the slot type recesses shown in Fig. 9.

It will be understood that this invention may be designed and utilized in any suitable shape, size or arrangement, depending upon the objects to be accomplished, and that various modifications and changes may be made in this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as set forth in the appended claims.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. A tiltable panel assembly comprisin a. container having a side wall, a panel disposed in front of said container, a panel wall secured to said panel transversely thereof and positioned face-to-face with said side wall, a recess in the face of one of said walls and a pin secured to the other wall extending into said recess, a second recess in the face of said one of said walls and a pin secured to the said other wall and extending into said second recess, each of said recesses being elongate and having a part disposed substantially horizontally and a part disposed substantially vertically in the normal position of said panel and panel wall, said substantially vertical parts of said two recesses being disposed at different ends of said horizontal parts and extending therefrom in opposite directions toward the upper and lower edges respectively of said wall, the vertical part of one of said recesses communicating with an edge of the wall in which it is located, to permit separation from its pin in a plane parallel to the wall upon movement including tilting of said panel and panel wall relative to said container, said pins being initially disposed in portions of said recesses nearer to one end of said panel wall to permit subsequent relative sliding movement between said pins and the recesses.

2. A tiltable panel assembly comprising a drawer, a front panel for the drawer, side walls secured transversely to said panel at each side thereof, embracing said drawer, a first elongate recess in each wall having a substantially horizontal portion and a substantially vertical portion extending downwardly from the inner end of the horizontal portion and communicating with the bottom edge of the wall, a first pin secured to each side of the drawer and riding in said recess, said first elongate recess enabling separation of said panel side walls from said first pin upon movement including tilting of said panel and side walls relative to said drawer, a second elongate recess in each wall located between said first recess and said panel, each said second recess having a horizontal portion and a vertical portion extending upwardly from the outer end of the horizontal portion, and a second pin in each side of the drawer riding in said second recess, said pins being initially located in the portions of the recesses nearest said panel to enable subsequent outward sliding movement of the panel and panel side walls relative to said drawer.

3. In a tiltable panel assembly as in claim 2, said second elongate recess in each wall having a portion extending downwardly from said horizontal portion and communicating with the bottom edge of the respective wall and enabling separation of said panel side walls from said second pm.

JESS VAN FOWLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 624,871 Sanders May 9, 1899 1,106,569 Kessler Aug. 11, 1914 2,210,762 Itzigson Aug. 6, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 21,680 Great Britain 1908 280,633 Germany Nov. 25, 1914 

